Baltic Index Slips on Weaker Capesize, Panamax Rates

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index dipped on Wednesday, pressured by lower rates for the capesize and panamax vessel segments.

The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels ferrying dry bulk commodities, was down 18 points, or 1%, at 1,709.

The capesize index fell 109 points, or 6.8%, to an over one-week low of 1,485.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, lost $901 to $12,315.

The panamax index dropped 30 points, or 1.3%, to 2,276.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, were down by $270 at $20,485.

The supramax index advanced 78 points to 1,822, its highest level as per Refinitiv Eikon records going back to April 2017.

Strong activity out of the U.S. Gulf and the splitting of cargo from panamax vessels improved performance of the supramax segment, Intermodal said in a weekly research note.

(Reporting by Bharat Govind Gautam; Editing by Aditya Soni)